The chief trouble that menaced the imperial throne at this period was the extraordinary lavishness which the emperor’s entourage of speculative adventurers encouraged him to incur in all directions; the recklessness of speculation; the general mania for gain that went on around him.  There had also been terrible inundations in France, and a bad harvest.  Many things also that disgusted and disquieted the emperor were going on among the persons who surrounded him,—­persons in whom he had placed confidence; and it was one of his good qualities that he was always slow to believe evil.  Still, these things were forced on his attention, and greatly disturbed him.

His little son was from the first his idol.  Here is a letter he wrote to Prince Albert, acknowledging Queen Victoria’s congratulations:—­

“I have been greatly touched to learn that all your family have shared my joy, and all my hope is that my son may resemble dear little Prince Arthur, and that he may have the rare qualities of your children.  The sympathy shown on the late occasion by the English people is another bond between the two countries, and I hope my son will inherit my feelings of true friendship for the royal family of England, and of affectionate esteem for the great English nation.”

A few months later, the future Emperor Frederick, then recently engaged to the Princess Royal of England, visited Paris.  He was attended by Major Baron von Moltke, who described the emperor, empress, and their court in letters to his friends.  “The empress,” he says, “is of astonishing beauty, with a slight, elegant figure, and dressing with much taste and richness, but without ostentation.  She is very talkative and lively,—­much more so than is usual with persons occupying so high a position.  The emperor impressed me by a sort of immobility of features, and the almost extinguished look of his eyes.”

This look, by the way, was cultivated by the emperor.  When his early playfellow, Madame Cornu, saw him after twelve years’ separation, her first exclamation was:  “Why! what have you done to your eyes?”

“The prominent characteristic of the emperor’s face,” continues Von Moltke, “is a friendly, good-natured smile which has nothing Napoleonic about it.  He mostly sits quietly with his head on one side, and events have shown that this tranquillity, which is very imposing to the restless French nation, is not apathy, but a sign of a superior mind and a strong will.  He is an emperor, and not a king....  Affairs in France are not in a normal condition, but it would be difficult to say how, under present circumstances, they could be improved....  Napoleon III. has nothing of the sombre sternness of his uncle, neither his imperial demeanor nor his deliberate attitude.  He is a quite simple and somewhat small man, whose always tranquil countenance gives a strong impression of amiability.  He never gets angry, say the people round him.  He is always polite....  He suffers